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FTV: HOME ICE ADVANTAGE

This is the third of a four-game homestand for the Flyers, who have won two straight while outscoring their opponent, 9-2, in the process… The Flyers have also earned points in the standings in their last five games, going 3-0-2, and during that span, they have scored the game’s first goal in all five games… Also during this stretch, the Flyers have had 14 of their 17 goals scored by players other than Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek with seven different players finding the back of the net, led by Wayne Simmonds with five goals… The Flyers have also been red-hot on the power play, going 1-for-1 in their win over Carolina which marked the seventh straight game the Flyers have scored on the man-advantage… In that seven-game stretch they are operating at 35%, going 7-for-20… The Flyers own the NHL’s best power play at home, operating at 29.4% (15-for-51).

The Lightning sit in a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with Montreal at 41 points… They lead the NHL in goals scored (106) and are one of two teams with more than 100 goals this season (Toronto: 101)… They are second in the NHL in average goals per-game 3.3 and in scoring third-period goals (40)… Tampa also comes into tonight’s game losers of two straight and four of their last five games having scored two goals or less in four of those five outings… The Lightning have also lost three straight road games and five of their last six contests away from Tampa… The Lightning are undefeated in regulation when leading (13-0-2) or tied (6-0-2) after the second period, but are winless, going 0-10-0, when trailing after two periods… The Lightning are also undefeated, owning a perfect record of 14-0-0 when Ryan Callahan records a goal.

This is the second of three meetings against Tampa this year and first of two on home ice… The Flyers dropped the first meeting this season, 4-3 at Tampa as the Lightning had three players record multi-points in the contest (Stamkos: 2g-1a, Filppula: 3a, Garrison: 1g-1a)… The Flyers are winless against the Lightning in their last five meetings, going 0–5-0, with their last win against Tampa coming on Feb. 5, 2013… The Flyers do have an overall winning record on home ice against the Lightning, going 20-12-7-2 all-time, but own an even 6-6-0 record since the 2007-08 season… Claude Giroux has a five-game point streak against the Lightning - posting six assists and seven points in the last five meetings, while Jakub Voracek (3g-2a) and Wayne Simmonds (3g) have posted points in three straight games against the Lightning.

Couturier comes in looking for a new career-high point streak, which currently stands at six straight games… During that six-game span, he has three goals and four assists for seven points, which is nearly half of his points all season sitting at 15 points (7g-8a) through 29 games… Couturier ranks second on the team (only to Giroux) in time-on-ice among forwards, averaging 18:45 per-game, while leading all Flyers forwards in short-handed TOI per-game (2:38)… Couturier is four points shy of 100 career points in the NHL… Against the Lightning, Couturier has just two goals in 10 career games.

The Lightning sniper leads the team and is tied for third in the NHL with 17 goals, while also leading the team and tied for fifth in the NHL in the scoring race at 34 points through 32 games… Stamkos has just six points (2g-4a) in his last eight games, but has not gone two straight games without a point since Oct. 20-21… Since the beginning of the 2009-10 season, no player in the NHL has scored more goals than Stamkos (227)… Stamkos has posted three straight multi-point games when playing the Flyers, recording four goals and three assists for seven points in that three-game span… In his career, he has 16 goals and 25 points in 21 games against Philly.